Wshing machine



1,622,227 March 22 1927' c. LICHTERMAN 2 WASHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 22, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet l ayM 352% March 22' 1927' c, LcHTERMAN WASHING MACHINE 3 sheets-sheet 2 Filed Jan. 22

1,622,227 March 22, 1927. c LICHTERMAN WASHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 22, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet l5 Pea'ea Mu. 22,'19'27.

` UNITED STATES CHARLEB LICHTERMA, OF PITTS'I'ON, PENNBYLVANIA;

WASHING MACHINE.

Appicamn mga January 22, 1921. serial No. 162,793.

The present invention relates to washing 'machines of the type comprising a tub arranged for oscillatory movement about a vertical axis.

Washing machines of this type are old and well known in the art, and are ordinarily provided with means within the tub for agtating the washing fiuid and articles to washed. The agitating means is usually either (l) movable independently of the tub, such as an independently actuated dolly arran ed on the bottom of the tub or slightly therea ve, or (2) fixedly secured to the tub for movement therewith, such as a plurality of vanes disposed on the bottom and side walls of the tub.

The present invention relates to a washing machine having a tub'oscillatable about a vertical aris and having therein the sec- 0nd type of agitator mentioned above, namely, a plurality of agitating elements, such as vanes, tixedly secured to the tub and novable therewith. a

In washing machines of this type, it is desirable to create a steady and powerful current which will continuously pass through and around the'articles to be washed and thoroughly agitate the same. 'l`his should be accomplished without loss of power or etfectiveness of the circulating fiuid, such as results from useless splashing which only means a loss of fluid washing power, and, in many instances, awaste of the fluid. 'his is a particular objection to such washing machines as have heretofore been used of the type having a plurality of agitating 'vaes nxedly secured to the interior of the tu v.

'lt has apparently been thought .that 4a relatively large number of vanes arranged over an extended area within the tub is necessary in order to obtain the desired circulaton of the washing fluid and agitation of the clothes. For this purpose, machines of this type have been providedy with vanes disposed substantially radially on the bottom of the tub and also vertically disposed on the side walls of the tub.

Use of washing machines with such an arrangement of vanes I have found results, due to extreme splashing, in a very considerable loss of washing fluid and also in a loss of washing power, since such fluid asis thrown upwardly or splashed is not part of a current properly directed through the clothes, or into the same, which'is necessary in order to obtain the proper washing action.

An object of the present invention is, therefore, to provide an arrangement of fiuid agitating vanes within the tub Which will create the necessaryand desirable circulation of the washing tiuid Without splashing or waste of fiuid power.

Uther objects of the invention have to do with the provision of a tub construction, in a machine of the type wherein the tub oscillates about conveniently operated without annoyance because of splashing and will, at the same time, quickly and efficiently perform the washing operation.

Still further objects of the invention have to do with simplicity of structure, efficiency and economy of operation, and will become clearer as the description proceeds in connection with the preferred enibodiment of the invention disclosed in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure I is a vertical Sectional view on the line l--l of Figure 2.

Figure 2 is a horizontal Sectional view with the tub,or clothes container removed from the casing. 'i

Figure 3 is a horizontal the tub or clothes container of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings for a more detailed description, 10 indicatcs a casing, in the present instance, of substantially circular design, having a plurality of supporting section through on the line 3 3 legs 10'.

The casing contains therein suitable o erating mechanism for imparting an oscllatory motion to a tub and clothes container ll, Which will be described in detail after reference is first had to the preferred form of operating mechanism illustrated in lthe drawings but to which no claim is made in this particular application.

The operating mechanism is supported upon a pair of transversely extending strips 12, 12', connected to the casing by means of angle brackets 13. A motor ll is secured to a vertical axis, which may be the strip 12 and drives a pulley 15, which through a belt 16, operates a second pulley 17 upon a horizontal shaft 18; The shaft 18 is supported inbeari'ngs 19, and carriesa worm 20, which meshes with a ,worm gear 21 uipon a' vertical stub shaft 22 having bearings in the strips 12, 12'.

The upper endof the shaft 22 carries a crank arm 23, which is pivotally connected to a rack 24 by means of a wrist pin 25. The rack 24 is held ii-i mesh with a rack ear or pinion 26 by means of a guide in 2 upon a late 28, which freely surroun s a vertical tu ular shaft 29, securedto the tub 11, so that the guide plate may move freely around the sliaft 29 as an axisv the rack 24. A ear 26 is connected with a tub supporting isk or platform 30, having an annular tub supporting portion 31 provided with a surface of frictional material 32 such as rubber, cork or other suitable material.

As will be understood, operation of the rack and pinion-from the motor 14 through the driving connections described will result in an oscillatory movement of the pinion 26 and its tub supporting latform 30 about the tubular shaft 29, whic serves as an axis or bearing for the ear and platform, the sliaft 29 being rotata le at its lower end in a tubular bracket 34 su ported upon the latform strip 12. The ower end of the s aft 29 may be closed by a plug 35 and it is provided with a lateral opening 36 communicating with a drain pipe 37, the shaft 29 thus serving as a portion of a passage for the discharge of washing fluid from the tub.

The tub 11 has substantially imperforate side' walls 11' and a bottom wall 11" which is imperforate except for a centrally disposed drain opening 38 which communicates with the hollow shaft 39 secured to the tub. The opening 38 is formed in an annular upstanding valve seat member 39, having an outwardly extending flange 40 anda plurality of radiall p disposed openings 41. These openings lea from the opening 38 into an annular chamber 42 which is arranged at the lower end of a tubular valve stem guide 43. A valve1 44 has a vertically disposed stem 45 traversing the tubular guide member 43, and the valve handle 46 is disposed above the upper end of the .tubular guide, whereby the valve 44 may be conveniently raised and lowered to open and close the drain opening 38.

At its lower end the tubular guide 43 is provided with a plurality of openings 43' to permit fluid from the tub to flow through the discharge opening 38 when the valve is raised. The latter may be maintained in raised position by any suitable means such as a detent pin 49 upon the stem, the pin being adapted to rest upon the top wall 43' of the guide 43 when the pin is drawn upwardly through an opening 50 (Fig: 3) therein and the valve stem is partially turned to 'carrY the pin out of alignment with the reduce portion 50' of the opening.

The clothes container or tub is adapted during operation of ,thereby effect a thorough ipaasa? and are spaced inwardly from the side wal s 11' of the tub. This arrangement of the vanes is of particular iniportance in a washing machine of thistype, wherein the tub is osc-llated about a vertical axis, son that by providing a free or unobstructed space between the outer ends of the vanes .and the tub side wall 11, instead of arranging, foi' instance, verticall disposed vanes on the inner side wall of t e tub, objectionable splashing of the washing fluid is avoidfor the rea- J ed, and, furtlierinore, instead of a splashing' I action thereV is obtained a steady and. powerful circulation of the fluid of the character described below.

When the tub is substantially filled with.

clothes and the fluid level is at substantiall the line 3--3 (Fig. 1) operation of the tu will not cause a splas ing of the fluid,.but instead, the agitating vanes 52 will cause the fluid adjacent the bottom to flow outwardly to the side wall of the tub where it is directed upwardly, as indieated by the arrows in Figure 1, and then inwardl'y and downwardly. The inwardly flowing `currents, indicated generally by the arrows in Figure 3, tend to converge toward a point-A i disposed between tlie inner ends of the vanes and substantially equi-distantly therebetween. These inwardl flowing currents have a very considerab e force,'but ldo not splash or foam to any substantial extent. The result is that the entire fluid power is directed in steady streams or currents continuously flowing upwardly toward the top of the tub, then inwardly toward the center, and then downwardlyat substantially the center of the tub toward the vanes., The articles being washed will be carried, to a certain extent, by tliese currents, which .will pass around and through the articles Aparticular feature of this invention is the revision of a tub having above the tops of t e baflles and adjacent the 'side wal s,

an unobstructed area. That is-to say, the

side walls above the tops of thelbaffles .are

or, in'other words, are notv provided .with vanes or baflles which would destroy, or, at least deflect substantially, the course of the inwardly flowing currents. It is preferablc, as explained, that the baflies be located so as rto leave between substantially plane,

the side walls and the ends of the baffles, a

space for the passage of fluid, since the-iii.- wardly flowing currents are strongeraiid more effective with this construction, andlit is desirable that the side walls above the and i washing operation. i .v

tops of the bafiies be formed so as not to obstruct the horizontal flow of'fluid along the face of the walls.

For the purpose -of increasing the power of the stream and the bafiie action of the vanes, they are preferably formed, as shown in the drawings with their upper edges 52' directed upwar ly toward their outerlends and their outer end edges 52 are curved downwardly and inwardly. This formation gives the vanes a greater height at their outer ends 52" than at their inner ends, Which is desirable in view of the u wardly directed currents which are formed at the outer ends. The vanes or bullies, in the present instance, are formed separately from the tub and are secured thereto by means of laterally extending lugs 53'.

Although there is no considerable s lashing action caused by the vanes, the tu may be provided with a cover 54 and the casing has a cover 55 which results in a construction in which the clothes container is entirel enclosed. v

When it is desirable to interrupt the operation of the clothes container, t may be lifted from the platform 30 by any suitable mechanism such as the rock shaft 56 having a cam 57 arranged below the shaft 29. rl`he shaft 56 may rock to brin the cam into engagement with and to raise the sh'aft 29 and the tub, as by means of a crank arm 57 on the rock shaft connected with a pitman 58 extending upwardly to a crank 59 mounted on a short shaft 60 carried by a hand operable lever 61. lt will be understood that by simply operating the lever 61, the roel: shaft 56 and cam 57 may be actuated to raise the shaft 29 and thus lift the tub from the oscillating platform 30 upon which it rests. The tub .may thus be raised without interrupting the movement of the platform and when the tub is lowered upon the platform, its oscillating motion will be re umed.

narrow wear strip 62 is made secure to the bottom of the tub so as to be interposed between the strip of friction material 32 on the operating p atform and the bottom of the tub, and thus, wear upon the material forming the bottom of the tub is eliminated.

If desired, the washing action of the currents formed by the vanes 52 during oscillation of the tub may be augmented by interiorly corrugating the wall of the tub as at 63.

in the drawings, or ma be extended entirel around the tub side walls, if desired. ft will be iinderstood, however, that such corrugations do not affect the currents or Streams created by the vanes and simply have a frictional action upon the fl clothes.

By the term vanes as used throughout the specification and claims, 'is meant any fluid obstructing 'wall or bafile, irrespective These corrugations may be spaced` apart as illustrated of its cross-Sectional dimensions. which has substantially the effects described, whether formed integrally with the tub, or independently of Pthe tub and secured thereto, as shown in the drawings.

Obviously, the invention is not limited to the details of construction illustrated and described, and Ysuch modifications inay be made therein as come within the following, claims: i

I claim:

1. A washing machine comprising a tub ada ted to contain clothes and washing ui means for oscillating said tub about a substantially vertical axis and a plurality of agitating varies fixedly positioned on the bottom of the tub, said varies being spaced inwardly from the side walls of the tub whereby to provide an unobstructed s ace between the outer ends of the vanes a the side walls of the tub for free circulation of washing fiuid.

2. A washing inacliine comprising a tub ada ted to contain clothes and washing tlui means for oscillating said tub about a substantially vertical axis disposed substantially at the center thereof and a plurality of substantially radially disposed agitating varies. fixedl positioned on the bottom of the tub, sai vanes being spaced inwardly from the side walls of the tub whereby to provide an unobstructed s ace between the outer ends of the varies an the side walls of the tub for free circulatioi of washing fluid.

3. A washing machine comprisng a tub ada ted to contain clothes and washing flui means for oscillating said tub about a substantially vertical axis and a plu'- i-ality of substantiall radially disposed fluid-agitating vanes xedly positioned on the bottom of the tub, said varies being spaced' inwardly from the side walls of the tub, whereby to provide an unobstructcd space between the outer ends of the vanes and the side walls of the tub for free circulation of washing fluid, and spared radi- -ally outwardly from the center of the tub.v

4. A washing machine comprising a tub adated to contain clothes and washing flui means for oscillating said tub about a substantially vertical axis and a plurulity of substantially radially disposed fluidagitating vanes having upwardly inclined outer ends fixedly positioned on the bottom of the tub, said varies being spaced inwardly from the side walls of the tub whereby to provide an unobstructed space between the outer ends of the vanes and the side walls of ihe tub for free circulation of washing 5. A washing machine comprising a tub ada ted to contain clothes and Vwashing flui means for oscillating said tub about a substantially vertical axis and a plurality asA icis

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=.- from the side walls of the of substantially radiallydisposedr W fluidagitating vanes having ,upwardly inclined outer ends fixedly positioned; on the bottom of the tub, said vanes being spaced inwardly tub, whereby to provide an unobstructed space betweenthe outer ends of the vanes and. the side' walls of the tub for free circulation of washing fiuid,, a,nd spaced radiallyfioutwardly from the center of the tub.

6. A washing machine comprising a tub ada ted to contain clothes and washing flui means for oscillating said tub about a substantially vertical axis disposedin substantially its center and a plurality'of relativel fiat, upstanding and substantially radialy disposed flud-agitating vanes fixedly positioned on the bottom of said tub, saidv vanes being spaced substantially equidistantly about sind axis and spaced outwardly therefrom and radially inwardly from the side walls of the tub, the ace between the outer ends of saidvanes ,an the side walls of the tub being unobstructed to permit free circulation of washing fluid.

7. A washing machine comprising a tub ada ted to contain clothes and washing flui means for oscillating said tub about a substantially vertical axis, disposed at substantiall its center and a plurality of relatively at, upst-anding and substantially radially disposed fluid-agitating vanes fixedl positioned on .the bottom of said tub, sai vanes being spaced substantially equidistantly about said axis and spaced outwardly. therefrom and radiallyA inwardly from the side walls of the tub, the s ace between the outer ends of said vanes an the side walls of the.` tub being unobstructed to permit 'free circulation of washin fluid, the up er ed es of said vanes being inclined upwar ly an outwardly whereby the vanes extend upwardly a more substantial distance at their outer ends than at their inner ends.

8. A washing machine comprising a tub` adapted tocontain clothes and washing fluid, meanszfor ,oscillating said tub about a Substantially `lvertical axis disposed substantially-atl the centerthereof,, and a (plurality of snbstantiall, v radially dispose agitatin'g vanes fixed y. ositioned on the bottom of the tuh,`.the si e .wa-lis ofthe tub above the tops of ,the .vanes being substantially devoid ofuobstructionsto the flow of liquid horizontally along the wa'lsv and said vanes being spaced inwardly from the side wal`s of the tub whereby to provide -an unobstructed space between the outer ends of the vanes and the side walls of the tub for free circulation of washing fluid.

9. A washing machine comprising a tub adapted to contain clothes and washing fluid, means for; o scillating said. tub about a substantiall; vertical ai jrishand a plurality of substantially radially ldisppsed fluid-agitating vanes fixedly positioned on the bottom of the tub, the side walls of the tub above the tops of the vanes being substantiahy devoid of obstructions to the flow of liquid horizontally along the walls, and said vanes being spaced inwardly from the side walls of the tub, whereby to rovide an unohstru'cted space between t e outer ends of the vanes and the side wal s of the tub for free circulation of washing fluid, and space-.d ragially outwa'dly from the center of the tu 10. A washing machine comprising a tub adapted to contain clothes and washing fluid, means for oscillating said tub about a substantially vertical axis disposed substantially at the center thereof, and a lurality of substantially radially dispose agitating vanes fixedly positioned on the bottom of the tub, the side wa ls of the tub above the tops of the vanes being substantially devoid ofobstructions to the flow of liquid horizontally ulong the walls, and said vanes being spaced inwardly from the side walls of the tub whereby to provide an unobstructed space between the outer ends of the vanes' and the side walls of the tub for free circulation of washing fluid and beings aced outwa'dly from the center of the tu npstanding post occupying the s ace at the inner ends of said vanes adapte to engage and deflect currents flowing radially inwardly from the side walls thereof.

11. A washing machine comprising a tub adapted to contain clothes and washing fluid, means for oscillating said tub about a subs l'antially vertical axis, and a plurality of substantially radially disposed fluid agitating vanes having pwardlv inclined outer ends fixedly positioned on the bottom of the tub, said vanes being spaced inwardly from the side wal`s of the tub, wherehy to provide an unobstructed space between the outer ends of the vanes and the side walls of the tub for free circulation of washing fluid, and spaced radially outwardly from the center of the tub, and an upstanding post occnpying the space at the inner ends of said battles to obstruct and deflect currents flowing radially inwardly from the side Wal`s.

12. A washing machine comprising a tub adapted to contain clothes and washing fluid, means for oscillating said tub about a subslantially vertical axis. and a plnrality o and an substantially radialy disposed fluid-agitat-I p ing vanes fixedly po. 'tioned on the bottom of the tub, the side walls of the tub above the tops of the vanes being substantially devoid of obstructions to the flow of liquid horizontally along the wa`ls, and said vanes tub, and an upstanding free circulation of washing luid, and spaced radially outwardly from-the center of the post occupying the space at the inner'ends of said vanes to obst-.'uct and deflect current flowing radially inwardly from the side walls thereof.

13. A washing machine comprisinflr a substantially verticaly disposed cylindrcal tub,, havingr a substantally uninterrupted inner periphcry, and oscillatable about a substantially vertica'L axis, power driven means for oscillating the tub about said vertical axis, an axialy dsposed post projecting upwardly for a substantial distance from the bottom of the tub, and li uid deflecting means operative to defiect t e liquid .in the tub outwardly and upwardly during oscillation thereof, said deflecting means being rigid with and on being ispaccd thereof. 1

14. A washing machine comprisin a substantially verticall disposed cylindrcal tub having a substantally uninterrupted inner periphery and oscillatable about a substantially vertical axis, power driven means to oscillate the tub about said axis, and liquid deflecting means to deflect the liquid in the tub outwardly and upwardly during oscillatlion thereof, said deflecting means being rigid with and on the bottom of the tub, and being spaced from the inner periphery thereof.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. i CHARLES LICHTERMAN.

the-bottom of said tub, and from the inner periphery 

